“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in UNITY!” Psalm 133:1 (NIV)
Three years ago, when my wife was pregnant with my first daughter, I had a dream in which my daughter who was ten years old appeared and was looking sad and crying. Things had deteriorated in St. Kitts-Nevis as crime was rampant, diseases and health issues were not being dealt with, and the structure of our schools had deteriorated and the standard of our education was at an all time low. Albeit we were boasting of the economic and physical achievements and developments in our midst. Then she said to me, “Daddy, if you know better, that we can do better, why are you not speaking up? What are you doing to make St. Kitts-Nevis a better place for me and my generation?“ At that time, I had no idea that two ministers would have left the government, a MONC would have been put forward and not debated, and we would have become a rogue nation in terms of our disrespect for democracy and our Constitution, and be condemned by Canada and the USA for our sanction evasive Citizenship by Investment Program.
Two years earlier, Reverend Cherie Booker had given us a lecture at our weekly CMEs at JNF General Hospital on “Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Patients with Physical Conditions” with emphasis on Religion and Spirituality. And in our discussions afterward, a comment was made to the effect that although we were developing physically and financially, we were regressing socially, mentally, emotionally and spiritually/morally. And then I remembered that quote from the scriptures, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:38 (KJV). So this is the question I started to ask myself from since then, “For what shall it profit us as a nation, if we shall gain the whole world, and lose our own soul as a nation in the process?”
As fate would have it, two weeks after the dream, I gave the Keynote Address at UMHS, an offshore medical school on the island, that gave me the impetus and confidence to use my clinical skills to diagnose the root causes of our social and political ills, and to try to find my voice in speaking up and speaking out as encouraged by my daughter. And the rest as they say is history, as when the insights presented themselves to me, I would be awaken in the wee hours of the morning with a restless voice encouraging me to “Write!.” And what followed was usually written within the space of an hour or two, as the words and ideas just flowed forth effortlessly, which I have now come to accept as the Holy Spirit working in me and using me as a conduit to assure me and others that the divine presence and guidance is always with us, if we choose to take heed and listen.
In two days time, we are all going to the polls to elect a team which we believe would be better able to lead us and serve us and represent the best in us. The incumbents are boasting about the spectacular achievements in the physical and economic spheres, and I have my reasons to believe that all is not what they seem, as many of the indicators of our physical and economic developments are hidden from us, so we do not know how much of the purported developments are creative accounting gimmicks and tricks. Moreover, I am convinced that whichever party is/was in power would have been at the helm of the same developments, as Port Zante and South East Peninsular were already opened up before the incumbents took office. It makes no sense now to compare the achievements of this administration with that of the past, as both evolved during two different periods with two different opportunities and challenges, and I am sure it is a moot point what the administrations would have been able to do, given the geopolitical and socioeconomic situations of their time.
So with regards to the physical and economic developments, that is a nonstarter for me in terms of my choice of team who I want to lead us and also create a sustainable and supportive environment for my children and their peers and the generation to come. What is most important for me and I hope also for the people of the country at this juncture, are the social, mental, emotional, spiritual and moral developments of our people. Given what I am seeing by the incumbents, their modus operandi leaves too much to be desired as so much more is and was expected of them. They have torn up our sacred social contract and covenant, our Constitution, and used our public resources and institutions, for personal and party gains, which for me is tantamount to corruption at the highest level. Our best and brightest are being compromised, and what we have in our midst now are brain drains when our people leave for better lives overseas, and brain strains, when our young die prematurely or are incarcerated, or remain under-educated and unemployed. Instead of having the cream of the crop rising to the head of our institutions of governance, we are now left with the top of the garbage heap, where it is now obvious that the head of state, parliament, commissions, and directors of critical institutions, have taken an oath to serve the political directorate rather than the people they were given the privilege and responsibility to serve.
These are unprincipled behaviour that is unbecoming of us as nation which we should resist at all costs. We have a team in opposition who has succumbed to the negativities of this corruption, who have learnt the hard way of the consequences of these politically immoral misdeeds, and who have pledged to do their best, to rise to the occasion, when given the opportunity, to bring this ship of state away from the rocks, and take us to clear waters, and charter a better course forward. However, they cannot do it alone, and we cannot do it alone, we need each other. We will give them our support and they must never take our support for granted. They must in good faith pass legislation to limit their power as they cede power back to us, as we become their bosses and they serve us and act as statesmen and stateswomen to facilitate a better St. Kitts-Nevis our hearts, minds, souls and spirits know is possible. Let us now stand in solidarity with each other and vote our conscience on election day with one heart and one voice as one people united together for the sake of our children and theirs to come.
I have done my best to speak up and speak out as prompted by my daughter in that fateful dream. I will now leave it for God to work within each of us, to stir in us that sense of what is right and just, and trust HIM that he will do the rest in leading and guiding us forward.
I will now leave you now with the words of one of our sons of the soil whose song has been prophetic and an inspiration to many of us during this most trying time of our growth and development. I hope that you will be as touched and as moved as I am by this song. May Godspeed be with our UNITED Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Arise St. Kitts and Nevis! It’s Time!! We are Better Together in UNITY!!!
Arise by King Arrow
Would you stand up and see your country dying and never lend a helping hand
Would you see your children’s future dwindling, creating much disillusion
How could we watch on idly, disregarding our self-sufficiency?
Maladministration, no I say no, not at all
Citizens, lets unite and stand up, for our rights, all our lives, analyse
Let us reintegrate and correct our mistakes, reunification,
Building a brand new nation, we move on together hand in hand
Rise, citizens arise, the country is yours, all yours, still yours
Would you assist building a wall so massive or bridge don’t care how small
As one fence to divide our people, the other unite us all
Unambitious men just cannot be, a part of this community
Displaying selfishness, a total lack of interest, no, I say no, not all
Citizens, lets unite and stand up for our rights, all our lives, analyse
Let us reintegrate and correct our mistakes
Reunification, building a brand new nation, we move on together hand in hand
Rise, citizens, the country is yours, all yours, still yours
Can your conscience be clear indulging corruption or misusing public office
Being abused of unemployment and crime or disrupting a citizens peace
Ooh my country in disharmony, separated politically
Hatred for a brother, cannot love each, no, I say no, not at all
Citizens, lets unite and stand up for our rights, all our lives, analyse
Let us reintegrate and correct our mistakes
Reunification, building a brand new nation, we move on together hand in hand
Rise, citizens, the country is yours, all yours, still yours
Dr. Sahely, I am praying with you and all of St. Kitts/Nevis that whatever God says on Monday, all will remember the promise of the scriptures that S/He will never leave us or forsake us.
With all due respect to the office of the Prime Minister, it is my observation that the person currently holding that office is not emotionally and psychologically whole, but because mental illness has come to be seen as normative in the society, and there is a stereotype that most people hold as demonstrative of mental illness, they don’t see the PM as mentally unstable.
I am glad I said something that day that impacted you, and I pray that the work I did there caring for the mental health needs of those who availed themselves of my services continues to be a source of inspiration to them. The Federation is fortunate to have you. I offer to you 3 of my favorite prayers which you may already know: Thomas Merton’s Prayer, The Prayer of St. Francis (can google if necessary) and this one which I found in a book on Buddhist Psychology and spirituality.
“O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember only the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember too the fruits we brought forth thanks to this suffering–our comradeship, our loyalty, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness.” Amen
Grace & Peace be with you,
Cherie
Very well said. Good summary of our predicament as a country.
Oh how well spoken: What is it that keeps the blind from seeing and the ignorant from understanding. Historically we have often witnessed good people following evil leaders yet in their frenzy, they cannot be swayed. They follow like lemmings, the loudest, the most boastful and often the insanity is masked by such enormous bravado that the lies and evil dealings go unrecognized. “The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones..”